diff --git a/bitchat/Protocols/BinaryProtocol.swift b/bitchat/Protocols/BinaryProtocol.swift
index fc8013ed..e781ae01 100644
--- a/bitchat/Protocols/BinaryProtocol.swift
+++ b/bitchat/Protocols/BinaryProtocol.swift
@@ -196,11 +196,11 @@ extension BitchatMessage {
         
         data.append(flags)
         
-        // Timestamp
-        let timestampSeconds = UInt64(timestamp.timeIntervalSince1970)
+        // Timestamp (in milliseconds)
+        let timestampMillis = UInt64(timestamp.timeIntervalSince1970 * 1000)
         // Encode as 8 bytes, big-endian
         for i in (0..<8).reversed() {
-            data.append(UInt8((timestampSeconds >> (i * 8)) & 0xFF))
+            data.append(UInt8((timestampMillis >> (i * 8)) & 0xFF))
         }
         
         // ID
@@ -290,11 +290,11 @@ extension BitchatMessage {
             return nil 
         }
         let timestampData = dataCopy[offset..<offset+8]
-        let timestampSeconds = timestampData.reduce(0) { result, byte in
+        let timestampMillis = timestampData.reduce(0) { result, byte in
             (result << 8) | UInt64(byte)
         }
         offset += 8
-        let timestamp = Date(timeIntervalSince1970: TimeInterval(timestampSeconds))
+        let timestamp = Date(timeIntervalSince1970: TimeInterval(timestampMillis) / 1000.0)
         
         // ID
         guard offset < dataCopy.count else { 
diff --git a/bitchat/Protocols/BitchatProtocol.swift b/bitchat/Protocols/BitchatProtocol.swift
index e1296acb..ebaafa78 100644
--- a/bitchat/Protocols/BitchatProtocol.swift
+++ b/bitchat/Protocols/BitchatProtocol.swift
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ struct BitchatPacket: Codable {
         self.type = type
         self.senderID = senderID.data(using: .utf8)!
         self.recipientID = nil
-        self.timestamp = UInt64(Date().timeIntervalSince1970)
+        self.timestamp = UInt64(Date().timeIntervalSince1970 * 1000) // milliseconds
         self.payload = payload
         self.signature = nil
         self.ttl = ttl
diff --git a/bitchat/Services/BluetoothMeshService.swift b/bitchat/Services/BluetoothMeshService.swift
index 5084ad5c..1ed501db 100644
--- a/bitchat/Services/BluetoothMeshService.swift
+++ b/bitchat/Services/BluetoothMeshService.swift
@@ -1053,7 +1053,7 @@ class BluetoothMeshService: NSObject {
             let currentTime = UInt64(Date().timeIntervalSince1970 * 1000) // milliseconds
             let timeDiff = abs(Int64(currentTime) - Int64(packet.timestamp))
             if timeDiff > 300000 { // 5 minutes in milliseconds
-                print("[SECURITY] Dropping packet with timestamp too far from current time: \(timeDiff/1000) seconds")
+                print("[SECURITY] Dropping packet from \(peerID) type:\(packet.type) - timestamp diff: \(timeDiff/1000)s (packet:\(packet.timestamp) vs current:\(currentTime))")
                 return
             }